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chocolatepot) wrote2017-02-28 05:16 pm
chocolatepot) wrote2017-02-28 05:16 pm
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I got my hair cut! It's a middy with no bangs and with some vertical layering as well as horizontal (I used up my nerve convincing the stylist that I really did want 10 inches cut off and couldn't tell her vertical layers were unnecessary when she started in on them). She curled it all over with a curling iron, which looked stupid, and I finger-combed it out. The last night I wet-set it and slept on it ... it looks a lot more like a fluffy Clara Bow bob than e.g. Elizabeth Taylor or Rosemary Clooney, which I think partly comes down to the fact that when most people do a wet-set and brush-out, they end up with hair that looks the way mine does naturally - on a good day, anyway - so when I do it, I get curly floof. But I like curly floof! And I like setting and taking out rollers!
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My hair goes fluffy the second I start to comb out the set curls, even just with my fingers. I don't tend to call it "naturally curly" because most of the time that seems to be used for more defined curl, but it certainly has ... a texture. Generally, I don't try to use product because it seems like I have to pour it on to have an effect, and then it's all greasy and/or crackly. :( There's just so much hair.
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(Forgive me if I sound know-it-all! I've been setting my hair with pincurls for everyday for 2+ years now, and before that different types of rollers and other wet-set techniques. A lot of different lengths, different products (or none), and different ways of brushing out. So I have tried and done a lot, and more than a few times.)
Brushing out is VERY important. Fluffy is the in-between stage, when the hair is no longer wanting to turn back into ringlets. But you need to brush more to smooth it into shape. It's easier with pincurls, but it will happen with rollers as well. Seriously, brush it MORE than you want to. If your hair is as much like mine as I think it is (or more so!) you will not be able to stretch out the curl.
In that vein, this hairbrush was the best wet set tool I bought:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/styling-brush/SBS-103199,default,pd.html#start=7
Especially since my hair is/was longer, I had trouble brushing out with my nylon bristle brush, since the curls and hair were so thick the bristles couldn't get through. And a wire brush was too open to adequately brush out. (It WOULD stretch the curl out when it kept tangling instead of brushing.) These bristles are close enough to adequately brush and smooth, but very stiff so they'll go through.
Can you expound a little bit on why you can't get pin curls to stick? If it would help I can try to video how I do it. I roll over a form to keep an even size and keep tension up, roll it up, slide it off, finish rolling the curl with my fingers, and secure to my scalp with crossed bobby pins. I also use end papers (like they use for perms) to keep layered ends together and rolling neatly.
I *highly* encourage pin curls. They create such marvelous waves with absolutely zero effort. And they can literally be sculpted. I can brush a long bob into a pageboy by brushing over my hand, and it will stay. For days. Or I can brush it down and into a flip, and ditto! If a lock is going the "wrong" way, I can "unwind" it and brush it into a curl the other way. Seriously, they're amazing. Heat sets don't do that, and rollers aren't as precise. And they are more comfortable to sleep on than any rollers, and I use a hard foam pillow.
Another recommendation:
https://www.amazon.com/HRST-Books-LLC-Sculpture-Curl/dp/B00GYF0Z1Y/ref=pd_sim_14_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00GYF0Z1Y&pd_rd_r=DYNFC4NJK74Q93WD49DS&pd_rd_w=eIEd9&pd_rd_wg=S1cxg&psc=1&refRID=DYNFC4NJK74Q93WD49DS
It's a crazy price for a little plastic tool... but with the booklet, it's totally worth it. I have her book, and although it goes into huge detail on pincurls, I didn't really "get" it from those instructions. In this booklet? I got it immediately. (Maybe she had some feedback?) And, disappointingly, the book actually had VERY few hairstyles using pincurls, and very few or none that described a real pincurl layout. But the booklet does! It describes a very good basic layout, with some variations for the bangs, and then several pages of suggested styles and variations for different looks in the 30s-40s. I got it for my birthday two years ago, the thing clicked right away, and I haven't looked back. I use different sizes from the tool often (it makes very tight curls) but the booklet is still in regular reference use.
Back to product. I don't use much, either. After I towel-dry my hair, I use a little bit of this:
http://www.sallybeauty.com//smooth-finish-cream/SBS-140116,default,pd.html
A pea-sized amount is very easy to spread through my hair, and it does help calm it down. I can't feel any residue. Then I spritz a 1/3 strength Lottabody setting lotion solution, which will give the the set a little more strength. (That may not be a factor for you, if you're not trying to get a set to stay for 4-5 days.) After brushing out I may use a little more of the smoothing cream if it's still looking a little frizzy, like when it's extra humid.
Wow, that's a lot of typing! Sorry to word dump. :) Seriously, I'm very excited for you. It's an adorable cut and this is the perfect time to experiment. I didn't get comfortable with pin curls until my hair was fairly short.
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Some of it's that I'm naturally hamfisted with bobby pins, but largely it's probably that before this week I was trying to do them with hair that was too long and created a big thick curl, so the pin didn't want to stay on. I haven't really tried to do them again since cutting it, but it's worth a shot! I was also confused by the Vintage Hairstyle detailed instructions on pin curls, but if the booklet makes more sense ... I've been using the book as a more general guide because, yeah, it's got mostly heat-set curls. But I've also gone from having too much hair for many of the styles to now almost having too little, anyway!
Last night I spritzed with diluted Lottabody and reset it, making sure to leave the crown flat and unrolled, and it's less Clara Bow today. Although one spot does seem to have lost the curl - I think. It's on the side-back of my head and behind a big festival of curls in front, so it's hard to see. I'm going to try some more brushing after work, we'll see if I can't at least get an idea of how much brushing it requires! Do you know of a tutorial showing a brush-out on hair like ours so I can see pictures of it at various stages? It seems like most of them are starting with much smoother, straighter hair.
I'm thinking about the styling brush. You're right, the bristle brush is not ideal as it doesn't go all the way through. Hmm, hmm.
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Yep, it's definitely possible to curl too much hair and/or too tightly to pin over. You definitely have a LOT less hair now! The tool is the perfect size for 1930s and early 40s styles.
Those random little bits are so annoying! Sometimes it's just a spot missed in the set, or it might be a quirk of your hair in that place, requiring a slightly different approach. If you don't wash daily, it's simple to spritz just that one lock and re-set it overnight.
I remember that when I really first tried to use pincurls many years ago, the brushing thing clicked when I watched a video by Lolita Haze. I can't stop to watch it right now, but I'm pretty sure this is it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50kzRZ6mbQ&list=PL7kY2ry6uNSqFO4GrQ0_RddP1UMGdbIMo&index=5
(She has more here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7kY2ry6uNSqFO4GrQ0_RddP1UMGdbIMo)
I'm not sure her texture is like ours; it looks softer. But it still has body, and it's amazing how much she brushes and brushes and brushes! (And that's rollers, not pincurls!) I was seriously amazed when I first saw it. She stretched it out and held it! But the curl was fine. I could see how the curl held on and formed into an actual style. And then shaping it in different ways at the head and the sides, using a comb and pulling it in different directions... Watching now, I'm amazed that it's working that well without pin curls! *With* pincurls, you can sculpt it just like that. The strength of the lined-up waves in individual hairs will keep various combed-in patterns the way you leave them.
Your hair is a lot shorter, of course. But that sort of technique really is the same regardless of the kind of hair hair. Setting lotion + tightly curled wet set really works, and will require vigorous brushing to tame. It's important for short hair, too, since your middy will come out of the set wanting to look like a poodle cut. Lots of brushing and shaping will get it to look like a middy, in all kinds of variations. :)
FWIW: The hardest hair to set is the literally board-straight, healthy, smooth hair. Lauren Maringola has that hair. She had the best 40s hair of her life the one time she had a perm. Not to give her curl, but it actually *damaged* her hair enough that the setting lotion and curling would be as effective as it is on other kinds of hair.
Yeah, that brush... Game changer!
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